Enter the dragon: How the CPC leadership field feels about O'Leary

Kevin O'Leary attends the Disney ABC Winter TCA Tour in Pasadena, Calif., in this Jan. 10, 2013. O'Leary is considering a move into politics, but the Canadian businessman made it clear Thursday that if he does indeed decide to enter the realm of federal politics, it won't be because he's trying to be Donald Trump. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

And they’re off … maybe. As potential candidates for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership continue testing the waters, party officials prepare to decide whether to fire the starting gun at the CPC convention in May, or wait until the fall. But with bids heating up and a slew of conservative gatherings on the horizon — the Manning Center meeting in February, the Civitas conclave in April — the pressure is on to make things official, and soon.

And then, before the fun has even begun, along comes Kevin O’Leary. After offering to invest $1 million in the Alberta oilpatch if Rachel Notley steps down, the wealthy ex-Dragon’s Den host mused about federal politics. “I thought at some point, someone is going to say to me, ‘If you can be such a critic, why don’t you do better? Why don’t you try it?’ I thought to myself, hmmm, maybe I should.”

O’Leary expressed his admiration for Donald Trump. “I know Trump. I know his family. I’ve watched him work. I think he’s smart as a fox.”

Does the prospect of a Trump North candidacy light a fire under any other contenders? Reached in Toronto, former cabinet minister Maxime Bernier told iPolitics, “No one shall prevent a person from doing what he wants to do. I am indifferent as to whether he runs or not.” Bernier did add, however, that if O’Leary “he comes in with new ideas, that could force a debate on those ideas.”

Bernier, of course, has always had plenty of ideas of his own. He has outspokenly argued for smaller government, less state involvement and greater personal freedom. Bernier is now on a cross-country tour “testing the waters” for support, which he says he is finding from Toronto to Vancouver. “I do not want to be the ‘Quebec candidate’. My ideas interest all of Canada, not just Quebec.”

Former Treasury Board president and Minister-of-Everything Tony Clement is also beating the bushes. From his riding, he told iPolitics, “I am still in an exploratory phase and have made no decisions. I am obviously consulting with a lot of people and a lot are contacting me. We certainly need a robust contest with a lot of people with a lot of different ideas.”

Tony Clement does believe, however, that ‘after four years of Trudeau, the party may be looking for a little bit more experience and a little bit less celebrity politics.’

Clement said he thinks the race needs experienced people able to connect with New Canadians and millennials — strengths he thinks he could bring to the table.

Asked about O’Leary, Clement had this to say: “I don’t really want to comment on other individuals. If they’ve got the skills, I’d encourage anyone who wants to help us rebuild.” Clement does believe, however, that “after four years of Trudeau, the party may be looking for a little bit more experience and a little bit less celebrity politics.” In terms of the party’s strategy, he added he doesn’t think “the path to victory and success is to out-Trudeau Trudeau. We have to be true to our values and principles, but how we express those has to be modern and evolve with the times.”

In Toronto, former transport minister Lisa Raitt, another name on Conservative lips, was a little more welcoming of an O’Leary bid and the attention it might focus on economic issues. “It’s kind of exciting that we’re getting interest from the outside like Kevin O’Leary. I’m glad that he is talking about the loss of jobs in Alberta, showing urgency and getting people’s attention. Whether that translates into him running for leader or not, there is always room for people to voice their opinion.”

According to Raitt, the next leader needs to be authentic and continue the “great work of our party”. She believes the Tories can trump Trudeau on policy. “We believe in lower taxes, we believe you should work hard, that government should be smaller and its growth curtailed. Those are basic conservative principles.”

Raitt is weighing her options, and will decide once she knows the rules of the game. She favours a longer contest, because it would allow the selling of more memberships. But as to the official launch of anyone’s campaign, “I believe the race will start at the convention regardless what the rules are. Anyone who is serious will have announced prior to that point.”

Indeed. If the Tories want a level playing field, particularly in terms of campaign spending, party brass would be wise to start the contest sooner rather than later. Of course, that’s the same strategy they applied to the last election. But in this case, a long campaign would probably benefit them by drawing media focus to the party, and drawing oxygen away from the Liberals.

More important than when the contest starts may be when it ends. If it continues into the fall of 2017, it could overlap with any efforts by the NDP to find a new leader, should Thomas Mulcair take a walk in the snow. It would also give the Tories a shorter runway before the next election, in 2019, which could help in terms of maintaining any momentum gained during their race.

Finally, a long campaign would encourage more outsiders — like O’Leary — to launch bids. There is no question that his candidacy would spice things up and bring a populist flavor to the proceedings. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing for a party that needs to broaden its reach. In Raitt’s words, “if he’s connecting with Canadians because they think he’s authentic, then he’s communicating with them. I wouldn’t pooh-pooh anyone. Look at the United States with Trump and Bernie — who would have thought that Bernie would be taking points away from Hillary?”

Who, indeed? 2016 could get mighty interesting — on both sides of the border.

Tasha Kheiriddin is a political writer and broadcaster who frequently comments in both English and French. After practising law and a stint in the government of Mike Harris, Tasha became the Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and co-wrote the 2005 bestseller, Rescuing Canada’s Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. Tasha moved back to Montreal in 2006 and served as vice-president of the Montreal Economic Institute, and later director for Quebec of the Fraser Institute, while also lecturing on conservative politics at McGill University. Tasha now lives in Whitby, Ontario with her daughter Zara, born in 2009.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.